Tag Archives: Risk

Sustainable metrics at REI and associated insights

Posted on May 21, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article by Kevin Hagen (http://www.sustainablebrands.com/news_and_views/articles/what-i-learned-about-sustainability-rei-part-2-metrics-over-intuition?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=businessweekly&utm_campaign=may20) describes REI’s tracking of greenhouse gas emissions in 2011. The company realized that while 10 % of these emissions were caused by transportation of its products, 15 % were the result of employee commutes … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability | Tagged commuting, greenhouse gases, Retail, Risk, river transport, Supply Chain, Sustainable | 3 Comments

Cadmium in Chinese rice – what should a consumer do ?

Posted on May 20, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (May 20, 2013) describes the problem of ‘cadmium rice” – a report that claims that 44 % of the rice tested had twice the level of cadmium (0.4 milligrams per kilogram) as considered … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability | Tagged cadmium, China, Global, regulation, responsibility, rice, Risk, Supply Chain, Sustainable | Leave a comment

Can outsourced manufacturing compliance to agreements be crowdsourced ?

Posted on May 20, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (May 20, 2013) describes companies such as LaborVoices and LaborLink that permit employees at manufacturing plants abroad to call in anonymously to report about working conditions. The companies then follow up to verify complaints and thus … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged audit, Capability, Capacity, Cost, crowdsourcing, ethical, Global, Risk, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

The economics of the $6.75 shirt in Bangladesh

Posted on May 18, 2013 by aviyer2010

In an article in the Wall Street Journal (May 16, 2013), a manufacturer, Rubana Haq, describes the producer margins in a $6.75 shirt he manufactures. He claims that it costs $4.75 to buy the cotton cloth and $1 for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Bangladesh, Capacity, competition, Coordination, Cost, government, manufacturing, Margins, Outsourcing, Risk, Suppliers, Supply Chain | 1 Comment

Software to track detailed flows from prescriptions to drug usage at the patient level

Posted on May 17, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (May 16,2013) describes software that uses insurance records, claims etc to track individual drug prescriptions from doctors to patients to pharmacies, including refills, albeit without patient identifiers. But the data does include details … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged chain, Consumers, Coordination, Cost, Information, pharmaceutical, Retail, Risk, Supply Chain, tracking | Leave a comment

Sharing costs for inspection and dispute resolution in Bangladesh

Posted on May 15, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (May 13, 2013) describes an agreement between European and Canadian retailers to create a board to oversee factory inspections, resolve disputes and ensure compliance with wage standards in Bangladesh. The costs to a … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Bangladesh, Collaboration, Cost, disruption, Global, Risk, Suppliers, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

Ecommerce in Nigeria – motorcycles, tuk tuks and vans to deliver goods and collect funds

Posted on May 15, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the Financial Times (May 14, 2013) describes ecommerce companies in Nigeria like Konga.com and Jumia.com, that permit internet ordering of goods, delivery to the customer and collection of money on delivery. Given worries about fraud, Nigerians prefer … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecommerce, Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Capability, Consumers, Cost, Ecommerce, Global, Nigeria, Retail, Risk, Service, Supply Chain, transport | Leave a comment

Should Quirky open retail stores ?

Posted on May 14, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in Forbes (May 27,2013) features “Quirky” (http://www.quirky.com/) – an online new product development company that uses crowdsourcing to take product suggestions to develop and manufacture products for sale at retailers. Quirky starts with ideas from inventors, then chooses … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Collaboration, Consumers, Cost, Design, Outsourcing, Retail, Risk, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

Does the hospital penalty for “excessive” re-admits improve service quality ?

Posted on May 6, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (May 5, 2013) discusses the impact of the Affordable Care Act’s penalties for hospitals with excessive re-admits within 30 days, set at 1% in 2013 and going up to 3% in 2015. But … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Capability, Consumers, Coordination, Cost, disruption, hospitals, Margins, regulation, Risk, Service | Leave a comment

Shifting manufacturing from China to other parts of Asia as costs rise

Posted on May 6, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (May 1,2013) describes decisions by Coach to reduce its manufacturing in China to 50% in 2015 (from 80% in 2011), by Crocs to reduce its footwear manufacturing to 65% this year from 80% … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Capacity, China, Cost, Environment, Global, manufacturing, Margins, regulation, Risk, Suppliers, Supply Chain | Leave a comment